Northern California's renowned non-profit arts institution San Jose Jazz announces today its 2023 WINTER FEST, February 16 - March 3, co-curated by Am I Jazz? Festival, the leading-edge jazz programmer in Kyiv, Ukraine, presented in downtown San Jose, Calif. For this initiative, COUNTERPOINT WITH UKRAINE, San Jose Jazz and Olga Bekenshtein (Founder, Am I Jazz? Festival) celebrate the rich Ukrainian culture that the Russian war on Ukraine seeks to eliminate with an arts festival unlike any other ever presented before. To mark the devastating one-year milestone of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2023), the co-curators program for the first-time a true cross-cultural collaboration between Ukraine-based artists performing alongside many of today's lauded American jazz artists for a multi-media festival shining the light on the best of improvisational music, Ukrainian fine art, independent films, and dance. COUNTERPOINT WITH UKRAINE exposes the intimate stories of Ukrainian artists fighting to keep their cultural identity intact for generations to come while the Russian war in Ukraine seeks to erase their past 300 years of existence.
SAN JOSE JAZZ WINTER FEST: COUNTERPOINT WITH UKRAINE explores our interconnected pasts and interdependent future as we collectively share in the humanity and well-being of all people. Through the power of the arts, the more than two-week SJZ WINTER FEST unveils the incredible artistry of musicians currently living in war-time Ukraine including Borys Mohylevskyi (saxophonist), Dennis Adu (trumpeter), and Yakiv Tsvietinskyi (trumpeter), as well as Ukrainian artists Alina Sokulska (dancer), Igor Osypov (guitarist), Olesya Zdorovetska (vocalist), DJs Karine and Shakolin, and U.S.-based Vadim Neselovsky (pianist). The American artists performing include Jazzmeia Horn with the Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Ambrose Akinmusire & Rafiq Bhatia, Madison McFerrin, GEORGE Featuring a solo by Dancer Alina Sokulska, the SJZ High School All-Stars playing arrangements of John Hollenbeck, Kassa Overall, Orrin Evans, Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Mark Guiliana, Vân-Ánh Võ, and the SJZ Collective.
Commissioned projects set for premiere at COUNTERPOINT WITH UKRAINE include feature artists Ambrose Akinmusire & Rafiq Bhatia, Vân-Ánh Võ & Olesya Zdorovetska, Igor Osypov, SJZ High School All-Stars playing arrangements of John Hollenbeck, and SJZ Collective & Yakiv Tsvietinskyi Play the Music of Roy Hargrove.
Initial Artist Lineup:
Jazzmeia Horn with the Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Ambrose Akinmusire & Rafiq Bhatia, Madison McFerrin, GEORGE Featuring Dancer Alina Sokulska, SJZ High School All Stars Play John Hollenbeck, Kassa Overall, Orrin Evans, Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Vadim Neselovskyi: Odesa, Dennis Adu Quintet, Mark Guiliana, Vân-Ánh Võ & Olesya Zdorovetska, SJZ Collective & Yakiv Tsvietinskyi Play the Music of Roy Hargrove, Karine (DJ Set), Shakolin (DJ Set), and More!
